86 Advice about routers and router bits
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This article is from the Woodworking FAQ Collection 4, by multiple authors.
86 Advice about routers and router bits
From: mills@adobe.com (Dan Mills)
Date: 6 Apr 89 16:01:12 GMT
I just bought my first router. It's the 2 1/4 hp variable speed Elu (I
splurged). I also bought a selection of bits. I have two related questions:
1. The book I'm reading (Rosendahl's "The Router"), and the owner's manual
of the router, say to insert the bit into the collet until it bottoms out,
and then back it out 1/8" or so. If I do that with some of my bits, almost
none of the cutting head sticks out of the collet. Did I get exceptionally
short-shanked bits? Can you get longer-shanked bits? Does my router have an
exceptionally deep collet? Should I ignore the advice and only insert them
as far as the shoulder of the shank? What's a safe minimum distance to
insert the shank in the collet?
2. My first project with the router has been to build a benchtop router
table using the plans from Woodsmith. I completed everything but the fence,
and attached the router to the bottom of the table. With my 1/4" straight
bit (admittedly, my shortest bit) inserted only 1/2" into the collet (is
this safe?), and the router set to its maximum plunge, I only get about 1/2"
of cutting head extending above the surface of the table. (The table is 1/2"
thick where the router attaches.) The base of my router has no removable
plate, so I can't gain anything there. I'd like to get at least a 3/4" depth
of cut. Any advice?
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